Computing systems of all kinds face many threats, from spyware, viruses, and other malware to network attacks, denial of service attacks, and advanced persistent threats of all types. Many computing systems are configured with a wide variety of security products to protect against these threats, such as anti-virus applications, anti-malware suites, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems. Keeping all of these applications installed and updated on every computing system can be costly not just in terms of time, but in terms of money as well. Some individuals and organizations may not have every possible product installed, configured, and up-to-date, either due to the expense involved or due to ignorance of the security product in question. Holes in a computing system's defenses can leave the computing system open to attack. In some cases, a computing system's administrator may not even be aware of the undefended attacks that take place on the computing system.
Most traditional systems for protecting a computing system are only capable of protecting the computing system against active threats, not predicting threats that may occur in the future. Additionally, traditional systems for protecting computing system may not alert a user to holes in the computing system's defenses that are not addressed by currently installed products. The instant disclosure, therefore, identifies and addresses a need for systems and methods for making predictions about security-related occurrences on computing systems.